Dual field optical aiming system for projectile weapons

ABSTRACT

A system for aiming a projectile weapon includes a telescopic sight for use with a second sighting device, such as a reflex sight or other non-magnifying sight. The telescopic sight has an eye point spaced apart rearwardly from its eyepiece and positioned at a vertical plane containing a line of initial trajectory of the weapon to which the aiming system is mounted so that a line parallel to the line of initial trajectory does not intersect the eyepiece. The location of the eye point facilitates concurrent use of a second sighting device at a normal mounting height and viewable past the eyepiece, thereby allowing the viewer to change views between the telescopic sight and the second sighting device with little eye movement and essentially no head movement.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit under 35U.S.C. §120 from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/843,445, filed Mar.15, 2013 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,115,958) and entitled “DUAL FIELD OPTICALAIMING SYSTEM FOR PROJECTILE WEAPONS,” the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The field of the present disclosure relates to sighting systems forprojectile weapons and, more particularly, to a telescopic sightdesigned for use with a reflex sight or other second sight.

BACKGROUND

Conventional riflescopes and other telescopic sights accomplishmagnification changes by optical elements that are either movable alongthe optical path, or that are switched into and out of the optical path.Also known are sight designs utilizing switching mirrors and/or beamsplitters for switching between one of two different optical systemsalternately viewable through a common eyepiece. Some sights includeoptical paths for day and night operation, including visible andinfrared channels, which may be combined and superimposed for viewing asa composite image. In many of these systems, components of the sightmust be manually moved to switch between viewing modes, which makes thesight more complicated, prone to image instability or misalignment,cumbersome and slow for switching between modes, and prone to makingnoise.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,388,673 of Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 2,512,153 of Henvey etal., and U.S. Pat. No. 2,527,719 of Greenstein et al. describe dualoptical power split-field telescopic sights utilizing different lensesor lens segments for upper and lower portions of the optical system.These telescopic sights utilize complex lens systems and opticalprescriptions, and are limited by a shared eyepiece through which bothfields are simultaneously viewed.

The present inventors have recognized a need for an aiming system thatfacilitates viewing a target scene through a telescopic sight andthrough a second sight having a different field of view or aimingcapability, such as a non-magnifying reflex sight providing a wide fieldof view, very little field obstruction, and fast target acquisition.Various known systems utilize a miniature reflex sight (also known as ared-dot sight) mounted atop a telescopic sight, but the height of theviewing region of the reflex sight in such systems is generally muchhigher than the exit pupil of the telescopic sight and too high forachieving a cheek weld with the rifle stock (buttstock) as is desirablefor stable aiming. Substantial head movement is also needed to switchbetween the two sights. The required head movement can be cumbersome andslow, particularly when switching from the reflex sight to thetelescopic sight and re-aligning the eye with the typically small exitpupil of the telescopic sight.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the present disclosure, a telescopic sight of aprojectile weapon aiming system includes a housing supporting an opticalsystem of the telescopic sight relative to a mounting surface of thesight, which may include an integrated mounting bracket or clamp atleast partly formed in the housing. An objective of the optical systemis horizontally offset relative to a vertical plane containing a line ofinitial trajectory of the projectile weapon when the telescopic sight ismounted to the projectile weapon. A light redirection device, such as aprism system or set of mirrors, receives light from the objective andreflects the light rearwardly along a path segment that is angledupwardly away from the line of initial trajectory when the telescopicsight is mounted to the weapon.

An eyepiece of the telescopic sight is positioned rearward of the focalplane and defines an eye point spaced apart rearwardly from the eyepieceat which the image of the field of view is visible through the eyepiece.The eye point is located in the vertical plane with the line of initialtrajectory and on a line parallel to the line of initial trajectory thatdoes not intersect the eyepiece. The eye point facilitates concurrentuse of a second sighting device, such as a non-magnifying reflex sightor holographic weapon sight, that may be viewable past the eyepiece,thereby allowing the viewer to change views between the telescopic sightand the second sight with little eye movement and essentially no headmovement. It may also enable a shooter to change views between the twosights without breaking cheek weld with a stock of the weapon.

The second sight and telescopic sight may be independently mountable intandem on a common mounting rail of the projectile weapon.Alternatively, the telescopic sight may include a mounting platform thatfacilitates mounting the second sight on the telescopic sight atessentially the same level as the eye point so that a centroid of aviewing window (partial reflector) of the second sight is approximately1.3 to 1.75 inches above a top surface of the mounting rail. Othermounting arrangements may also be possible.

Reticles and alignment subsystems of the telescopic sight for aim pointindication and point of aim adjustment (sighting-in) are also disclosed.

Additional aspects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdetailed description of preferred embodiments, which proceeds withreference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a rear right side isometric view of an optical aiming systemincluding a telescopic sight shown mounted to a rifle and a reflex sightmounted atop the telescopic sight, according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a front left side isometric view of the aiming system andrifle of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the telescopic sight component of theaiming system of FIGS. 1-2, with the rifle and reflex sight omitted toshow detail;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of an optical system of the telescopic sightof FIG. 3, annotated to trace an optical path of the telescopic sight;

FIG. 5 is a left side elevation view of the optical system of the aimingsystem of FIGS. 1 and 2 and illustrating the optical path of thetelescopic sight and lines of sight from an eye point;

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of an optical aiming system including thetelescopic sight of FIG. 4 and a holographic sight mounted to a commonmounting rail of a rifle, according to another embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of the optical aiming system of FIG. 6with the rifle omitted;

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 are respective top plan, right side elevation, andeyepiece end views of an optical aiming system according to yet anotherembodiment;

FIG. 11 is a top plan view of an optical system of the aiming system ofFIGS. 8-10, with a reflex sight viewing window omitted;

FIG. 12 is a right side elevation view of the optical system of FIG. 11,together with a viewing window of a reflex sight of the aiming system ofFIGS. 8-10;

FIG. 13 is a view of a reticle of the telescopic sight of FIGS. 1-7; and

FIG. 14 is a top view of a telescopic sight with a pivoting mirror forswitching the optical path to an auxiliary display.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an optical aiming system 10 according to afirst embodiment, shown mounted to a rifle 14. Aiming system 10 includesa telescopic sight 20 mounted to a mounting rail 26 of rifle 14, whichmay comprise a Picatinny rail (also known as a MIL-STD-1913 rail), whichis a universal dovetail-shaped mounting rail commonly found on AR-15rifles and other tactical rifles. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS.1 and 2, a non-magnifying reflex sight 30 is mounted atop telescopicsight 20. Telescopic sight 20 and non-magnifying sight are mounted inalignment with a bore of a barrel 36 of rifle 14, defining a line ofinitial trajectory 40 of rifle 14. Line of initial trajectory 40 lieswithin a vertical plane 50 (FIG. 2) that also longitudinally bisectsmounting rail 26. As further described below with reference to FIGS. 3and 4, an objective 160 of telescopic sight 20 is laterally offset (i.e.horizontally offset) relative to vertical plane 50.

It should be understood that the term “vertical plane” is used hereinmerely as convenient terminology for a frame of reference, and not tolimit plane 50 to being exactly vertical relative to the horizon orgravity (i.e. plumb), even though when a rifle is in use the line ofinitial trajectory 40 and mounting rail 26 will desirably be arranged ina vertically stacked relationship as illustrated and described. As isknown in the art, rifle 14 and aiming system 10 can be canted to theside together, thereby tilting vertical plane 50, albeit potentiallyimpacting bullet drop compensation and parallax compensation functionsof a reticle 190, 700 (FIGS. 4 and 13) of aiming system 10 describedbelow. Also, aiming system 10 may be mounted on a side rail (not shown)or other non-standard mount that is not perfectly centered or horizontalrelative to a normal shooting position. Moreover while the position ofmounting rail 26 relative to vertical plane 50 is a common attribute ofa tactical rifle, it should be understood that mounting rail 26 or othermounting features or surfaces of a projectile weapon may not necessarilybe centered on vertical plane 50. Thus, unless expressly stated in theclaims, the use of the term “vertical plane” is not alone intended tolimit the scope of the invention to an arrangement in which a mountingrail or other mounting features have the same shape or position asmounting rail 26 to the projectile weapon or to vertical plane 50, or toan exact placement of the vertical plane relative to mounting rail 26.As discussed below, the position of vertical plane 50 is determined inpart by the line of initial trajectory 40 of the projectile weapon andin part by the location of an eye point 280 (FIGS. 4 and 5) of thetelescopic sight 20.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of telescopic sight 20 of aiming system 10,with reflex sight 30 removed, and FIG. 4 is an isometric view of anoptical system 100 of telescopic sight. With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4,telescopic sight 20 includes a housing 110 that supports optical system100 relative to a mounting surface 120 of housing 110. In the embodimentshown, mounting surface 120 comprises surfaces of a mounting clamp 124(FIG. 7) having a longitudinal dovetail shaped slot 128. A fixed portion132 of clamp 124 includes longitudinal reference surfaces providingprimary lateral aiming alignment of telescopic sight 20 relative tomounting rail 26. Preferably, these reference surfaces and the entiretyof fixed portion 132 are integrally formed directly in housing 110, bymachining from stock material or otherwise. A movable portion of clamp124 is formed by a clamp shoe 134 illustrated in FIG. 7, which isretained to fixed portion 132 by coupling bolt 136. In otherembodiments, mounting surface 120 may take other shapes and formsproviding a solid platform or reference that, with mounting rail 26 orother scope mount, precisely aligns telescopic sight 20 and opticalsystem 100 relative to rifle 14 when telescopic sight 20 is mountedthereon. For example, in a conventional riflescope housing, the outerlongitudinal surface of a main tube of the scope serves as the mountingsurface, which is engaged by mounting rings that are secured to amounting base on the gun's receiver. The term mounting surface may alsoencompass multiple surfaces on housing 110 that may or may not lie in acommon plane, but achieve alignment of telescopic sight 20 using othermounting devices.

With reference to FIG. 3, an eyepiece 150 of optical system 100 issupported by housing 110 at a rearward opening in eyepiece end 152thereof. When telescopic sight 20 is mounted on rifle 14, eyepiece 150is aligned with vertical plane 50 (FIG. 2), such that an optical axis ofeyepiece 150 is contained in vertical plane 50. In some otherembodiments, such as those illustrated in FIGS. 8-10 discussed below,the optical axis of eyepiece 150 is not contained in vertical plane 50but intersects vertical plane 50. Housing 110 also includes an auxiliarysight mounting platform 154 including a set of threaded mounting holes156 formed on a top outer surface of housing 110 forward of eyepiece150. Auxiliary sight mounting platform 154 is horizontal and is centeredon and intersects vertical plane 50 when telescopic sight 20 is mountedon rifle 14. Auxiliary sight mounting platform 154 is preferablyrecessed horizontally below a top surface 158 of eyepiece end 152 ofhousing 110 (facing away from line of initial trajectory 40) and belowan uppermost edge 159 (FIG. 4) of eyepiece 150 to position a miniaturereflex sight or other non-magnifying sight or auxiliary sighting deviceat a desired or optimal height, as further explained below. Top surface158 of eyepiece end 152 may be flat, following the contour of anuppermost edge 159 of eyepiece 150 in which a top segment of roundeyepiece lenses are removed to provide a clear line of sight for use ofreflex sight 30, as further described below with reference to FIG. 5.

Continuing with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, optical system 100 includesan objective 160 comprising objective lenses 164, which gather and focuslight at a first (front) focal plane (FFP, not illustrated). In anotherembodiment (not shown), objective 160 may comprise a reflector or othersuitable objective system. Objective 160 is offset horizontally relativeto an eyepiece 150 of optical system 100 in the embodiment illustrated.A folded optical path 170 of optical system 100 extends from objective160 to eyepiece 150. The folded aspect of optical path 170 is created bya light redirection device 180 that receives light from objective 160and causes an image of the field of view formed at a rear focal plane(RFP) (located approximately at the plane of an aiming reticle 190 ofoptical system 100) to be offset horizontally from objective 160. Inparticular, in the embodiment illustrated, light redirection device 180includes a first reflective surface consisting of a first mirror 202that receives light from the objective 160 and reflects it forwardlyalong a first path fold segment 206 toward a second reflective surfaceconsisting of a second mirror 212. The first path fold segment 206 maybe angled downwardly relative to an optical axis of objective 160(wherein the optical axis of objective 160 is coincident with a segmentof optical path 170 between objective 160 and first mirror 202),depending on the desired or required geometry of optical system 100.Second mirror 212 receives light reflected by first mirror 202 andreflects the light rearward along a second path fold segment 216 that isangled upwardly away from the line of initial trajectory 40 to eyepiece150, as best shown in FIG. 5. The light propagating along second pathfold segment 216 forms, at the RFP, an image of the field of view oftelescopic sight 20. An erector system 230 including an image-erectingrelay lens unit 234 positioned between objective 160 and eyepiece 150erects an image of the field of view formed at FFP and focuses it atRFP. In the figures, backing caps supporting the mirrors 202, 212 areomitted, providing a view through openings 242, 244 (FIGS. 3 and 2,respectively) in housing 110 through which mirrors 202, 212 areinstalled.

In another embodiment (not illustrated), erector system 230 may includea power-varying relay lens system (zoom lens system) interposed betweenFFP and RFP and including at least one (and typically at least two ormore) lens elements selectively movable along the optical path 170 tovary an optical magnification setting of telescopic sight 20. When azoom lens system is utilized, the aiming reticle 190 is preferablylocated at front focal plane FFP to maintain a constant relationshipbetween markings on reticle 190 and the target scene regardless of themagnification setting of the zoom lens system.

Although light redirection device 180 is illustrated as a pair ofmirrors 202, 212, in other embodiments (not shown) light redirectiondevice may comprise a prism including first and second reflectivesurfaces. A prism system may be an image-erecting prism system, in whichcase relay lens system 234 can be omitted, and image-carrying light fromobjective 160 may be first focused at the plane of reticle 190. In yetanother embodiment, light direction device 180 includes an image sensorand an electronic image display device (not illustrated). In the case ofan electronic image sensor and display combination, the image sensorwould be located at a focal plane, namely either the focal plane ofobjective 160 (FFP) or a focal plane of the erector system 230, and thedisplay would be located either at the focal plane of eyepiece 150 (rearfocal plane RFP), or at the front conjugate of erector system 230.Alternatively, light redirection device 180 might include a type oflight guide, such as a light pipe (e.g. a bundle of fine aligned opticalfibers forming an image pipe), which may bend the optical path withoutfolding it longitudinally.

One or more of objective lenses 164 are slidably supported on housing110 for movement transversely of an optical axis of the objective lensesrelative to other elements of optical system 100. In the embodimentillustrated, the lateral position of both objective lenses 164 isadjustable via elevation and windage adjustment screws 250, 252 (FIG. 3)that are supported on and extend through housing 110. In alternativeembodiments, another kind of adjustment mechanism may be employed.Adjustment screws 250, 252 can be manually turned to drive objectivelenses 164 in a direction transversely of (and preferably perpendicularto) their optical axis to thereby effect vertical and horizontal aimingadjustments to the line of sight of telescopic sight 20, for sighting-inthe aim point of telescopic sight 20 or compensating for bullet dropand/or wind effects, as further described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,827,723 ofZaderey et al., issued Nov. 9, 2010. Because objective lenses 164 aremovable, they are not sealed to the housing 110. Instead, a transparentsealing window 264 (illustrated in FIG. 4) is fixed to housing 110forward of objective lenses 164 and hermetically seals an interior ofhousing 110. The horizontal offset of objective 160 relative to verticalplane 50 and mounting rail 26 enables elevation adjustment screw 250 tobe positioned on an underside of housing 110 while remaining accessiblefor adjustment via a coin or screwdriver, which further enhances the lowprofile nature of telescopic sight 20 and avoids elevation adjustmentscrew 250 from inhibiting the unaided (naked eye) field of view pasthousing 110.

A left side elevation view of optical system 100 is illustrated in FIG.5 together with optical elements of reflex sight 30. With reference toFIGS. 4 and 5, eyepiece 150 is positioned rearward of rear focal planeRFP (coplanar with reticle 190) and defines an eye point 280 spacedrearwardly of eyepiece 150 at which the image of the field of viewformed at RFP is visible through eyepiece 150. First path fold segment206 is angled downwardly toward second mirror 212 relative to an opticalaxis 284 of objective 160. Second mirror 212 receives the lightreflected by first mirror 202 and reflects the light rearward alongsecond path fold segment 216, which is angled upwardly away from initialline of trajectory 40 and toward a horizontal plane containing theoptical axis 284 of objective 160. This down and up folded optical path170 assists in lowering the position of eyepiece 150 relative to theweapon. In the embodiment illustrated, optical path 170 is folded inboth the horizontal and vertical axes, though in other embodiments (notillustrated), optical path 170 may be folded only horizontally or inonly a vertical plane 50.

When telescopic sight 20 is mounted to rifle 14, eye point 280 islocated at a place on vertical plane 50 (FIG. 2) such that a line 290(FIG. 5) parallel to the line of initial trajectory 40 and intersectingeye point 280 does not intersect eyepiece 150. In the embodimentillustrated in FIGS. 1-7, eyepiece 150 is truncated and flat along itsuppermost edge 159 (i.e., a round lens that has been cut, ground, orotherwise truncated or relieved to remove a section) to allow a clearhorizontal line of sight from eye point 280 through a viewing window 300of reflex sight 30 mounted forwardly of eyepiece 150. The truncateduppermost edge 159 of eyepiece may also enable a relatively large rangeof eye positions for use of reflex sight (beyond eye point 280), whichmay facilitate fast target acquisition in close-quarter tacticalsituations. Eye point 280 is preferably located just above a horizontalplane 294 tangent to uppermost edge 159 of eyepiece 150, which facesaway from line of initial trajectory 40 when telescopic sight 20 ismounted to rifle 14 or another projectile weapon. Skilled persons willappreciate that eye point 280 may be any point within an exit pupil oftelescopic sight 20 at which a viewer's eye 330 may be located to viewthe entire image of the field of view of telescopic sight 20.

Reflex sight 30 includes a light source 310, such as an LED, which ispositioned near a focal point of viewing window 300, which is curved andincludes a partial reflector in the form of a dichroic reflectivesurface 314. The dichroic reflective surface 314 of viewing window 300selectively reflects the wavelength of illumination emitted by lightsource 310 while passing other wavelengths of light, so as to reflectcollimated light 320 toward the viewer's eye 330 while allowing theviewer to see a distant target scene through viewing window 300. As iswell known in the art, this arrangement results in an image of an aimingmark or reticle formed by light source 310 to appear focused at adistance forward of reflex sight 30 and superimposed on the target sceneviewed through viewing window 300 to enable accurate aiming across arelatively wide range of head and eye positions at which the collimatedlight is received by the viewer's eye 330.

Viewing window 300 is positioned predominantly above the horizontalplane 294 when both reflex sight 30 and telescopic sight 20 are mountedto rifle 14, such that both telescopic sight 20 and reflex sight 30 canbe used to aim rifle 14 with essentially no movement of the viewer'shead. In practice, a small portion of the base of viewing window 300 maylie below horizontal plane 294, which will only slightly reduce theeffective range of eye positions at which reflex sight 30 can be usedfor aiming. The shooter or viewer may easily change between a(magnified) viewing line of sight 334 of telescopic sight 20 and anon-magnified viewing line of sight 336 through reflex sight 30 merelyby rotating the viewer's eye 330 within its socket and with essentiallyno head movement. Thus, in practice when switching between sights 20 and30, the eye point 280 of telescopic sight 20 (along viewing line ofsight 334) may be slightly below and spaced apart from an eye point ofviewer's eye 330 when viewing through reflex sight along viewing line ofsight 336. Alternatively, both sights 20, 30 may be viewed fromcoincident eye points. When the telescopic sight 20 and reflex sight 30are mounted to mounting rail 26 of rifle 14, a centroid of the surfacearea of viewing window 300 is preferably located between 1.3 and 1.75inches above mounting rail 26, and more preferably between 1.3 and 1.6inches or between 1.4 and 1.5 inches above mounting rail 26, which is anideal height for allowing a shooter to form a cheek weld with a stock340 (FIG. 1) of rifle 14. Thus, telescopic sight 20 and reflex sight 30may be sequentially used for aiming without breaking the cheek weld.

FIG. 6 illustrates an aiming system 400 according to another embodiment,in which a non-magnifying holographic weapon sight 420 and telescopicsight 20 are independently mounted to mounting rail 26 of rifle 14 intandem. Holographic weapon sight may be any of a variety of holographicsights sold by EOTech, a subsidiary of L-3 Communications located in AnnArbor, Mich. In the tandem mounting arrangement, each of telescopicsight 20 and holographic weapon sight 420 is separately removable andmountable to the common mounting rail 26 independently of the other. Inthis arrangement, the sights are independently sighted in. The sightscan be targeted at different sighted-in ranges. Or if a commonsighted-in range is desired, the second one of the sights to be mountedcan be sighed in merely by positioning its aiming mark at the same placeon the target scene as the other sight, which has been previouslysighted-in.

FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of aiming system 400 illustrating howa viewing window (optic 430) is in a vertically stacked relationshipwith eyepiece 150. In practice, the fields of view of telescopic sight20 and the non-magnifying sight (either holographic weapon sight 420, orin the embodiment of FIGS. 1-7, reflex sight 30) may be stacked directlyadjacent each other to form a composite image in which the top portionof the composite image is a wide-field of view of the scene with nomagnification and the bottom portion of the composite image is a narrowfield of view of a magnified image of the same scene of the distanttarget. In some embodiments, the two images may be slightly spaced apartor divided by an edge of eyepiece end 152 of housing 110 to provide adistinct separation between images and avoid confusion.

Other types of non-magnifying sights may also be utilized withtelescopic sights according to the present disclosure. For example,reflex sights having a collimated light source and a flat partiallyreflective viewing window may be utilized. Still other non-magnifyingsights, such as iron sights, may be usable with telescopic sights andaiming systems (including a secondary reflex sight or othernon-magnifying sight). Mounting a non-magnifying sight, such as reflexsight 30 or holographic weapon sight 420, at a normal mounting height inthe range of 1.3 to 1.75 inches enables the user to co-witness thenon-magnifying sight with conventional iron sights (not illustrated),which may include a front iron sight located forward of aiming system 10toward a muzzle end of barrel 36, and a rear iron sight located behindthe front iron sight and behind or forward of aiming system 10.

Skilled persons will appreciate that the aiming systems 10 and 400 ofFIGS. 1-7 are right-handed and designed to be viewed using the shooter'sright eye, and their configuration provides a right-handed shooter withlittle impediment to viewing the target scene with a naked left eye.However, if the same aiming systems 10 and 400 were to be used by aleft-handed shooter, the objective 160 and the portion of housing 110associated therewith would tend to block the unaided field of view ofthe shooter's right eye. A left-handed embodiment of the aiming systems(not shown) is also contemplated, in which the objective 160 ishorizontally offset to the left of the vertical plane 50.

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 show respective top, right side, and eyepiece endviews of an aiming system 500 according to yet another embodiment,including a telescopic sight 506 having an objective 510 offsetlaterally to the left of a vertical plane (illustrated by centerline 530in FIG. 8) and an eyepiece 520 offset laterally to the right of verticalplane 530. Portions of a housing 540 of telescopic sight 506 are cutaway to reveal portions of an optical system 508 of telescopic sight506. FIG. 11 is a top view of optical system 508 of telescopic sight,and FIG. 12 is a side elevation view of optical system 508. FIG. 12 alsoillustrates a viewing window 556 of a reflex sight 550 of aiming system500.

With reference to FIGS. 8-12, reflex sight 550 is mounted along acentral portion of the housing 540 of telescopic sight 506 betweenobjective 510 and eyepiece 520. A first mirror 560 receives light fromobjective 510 and reflects it forwardly and across vertical plane 530and at a slight downward angle relative to the optical axis 564 ofobjective 510 through an image-erecting reflex lens unit 570 to a secondmirror 580. Second mirror 580 reflects the light rearward and towardvertical plane 530 to a rear focal plane (RFP) located at or near areticle 590 (FIGS. 11 and 12). Eyepiece 520 defines an eye point 600rearward of eyepiece 520 at which the image at the RFP is visible. Theeye point 600 is located at a place on vertical plane 530 such that aline parallel to the initial line of trajectory (not illustrated)extends through viewing window 556 of reflex sight and does notintersect eyepiece 520. Due to the lateral offset of eyepiece 520, eyepoint 600 may, in some embodiments, be lower than a horizontal plane(not illustrated) tangent to an uppermost edge 610 (FIG. 12) of eyepiece520, yet a horizontal line of sight intersecting eye point 600 andcontained in vertical plane 530 does not intersect eyepiece 520. Asimilar lateral arrangement of eyepiece 520 may also enable reflex sight550 to be mounted relatively low on telescopic sight 506 such that alower edge 620 (FIG. 12) of viewing window 556 is vertically lower thanthe uppermost edge 610 of eyepiece 520 without occluding an effectivefield of view through viewing window 556, as best illustrated in FIG.10.

In still other embodiments (not illustrated) a telescopic sight with afolded optical path may include a small diameter objective centered onthe weapon (on vertical plane 530); and with an eyepiece that islaterally offset to the side of vertical plane 530, similarly totelescopic sight 506 of FIGS. 8-12. A small diameter objective may allowreflex sight to be mounted atop the telescopic sight while maintaining aheight of a centroid of the viewing window of reflex sight at a heightof between 1.3 and 1.75 inch above the mounting rail (not shown). Likethe embodiment of FIGS. 8-12, the eyepiece is angled inwardly andupwardly to provide an eye point that allows both the telescopic sightand the reflex sight mounted thereon to be viewed from essentially thesame head position and with little eye movement, and to provide otherbenefits described above with respect to FIGS. 8-12 while avoiding theparallax issues addressed by the reticle described below.

FIG. 13 is a view of a reticle 700 usable in place of reticle 190 oftelescopic sight 20 (FIGS. 4 and 5). With reference to FIG. 13, reticle700 includes a primary aiming mark 710 at the center of a horseshoeshape 712. A vertical aiming axis (shown partially by dimension line716, which forms no part of reticle 700) extends through aiming mark710. Reticle 700 is designed so that, when telescopic sight 20 issighted-in with primary aiming mark 710 accurately aiming at a point ofimpact of the projectile at the sighted-in distance (for example 100 or200 yards), holdover aiming marks 720, 730, 740, 750 providecompensation for different ranges (e.g. 300, 400, 500, and 600 yards,etc.). Holdover aiming marks 720, 730, 740, and 750 are spaced belowprimary aiming mark 710 and laterally offset to the right side ofvertical aiming axis to compensate for parallax induced by thehorizontal offset of the objective 160 to the right of vertical plane 50and line of initial trajectory 40 and an angled line of sight. Moreparticularly, the position of reticle 700 in telescopic sight 20 (andparticularly aiming marks 710, 720, 730, 740, and 750) cooperates withobjective 160 to define a line of sight from objective 160 that isangled horizontally inward toward vertical plane 50 when telescopicsight 20 is mounted to rifle 14. Skilled persons will appreciate thatthis angled line of sight induces left-to-right parallax error at rangesdifferent from the sighted-in range, compensated by laterally offsettingholdover aiming marks 720, 730, 740, 750 relative to vertical axis 716of reticle 700, as discussed above. The position of holdover aimingmarks 720, 730, 740, 750 may also be designed to compensate forspin-drift of the bullet at ranges beyond the sighted-in range.

FIG. 14 is a top view of a telescopic day/night sight 800 similar totelescopic sight of FIGS. 1-7, but in which a second mirror 810 ispivotable to switch the field of view of telescopic sight 800 between aday mode and a night mode. In day mode, the second mirror 810 is in afirst position to receive visible light (which has been gathered byobjective 820 and reflected by first mirror 830 along a first path foldsegment 840) and to reflect the visible light along a second path foldsegment 850 to a rear focal plane (RFP) for viewing via the commoneyepiece 855. In night mode, the second mirror 810 is pivoted orotherwise moved to a second position, to receive light along a thirdoptical path segment 860 from a display unit 870 of an auxiliary viewingdevice, such as a thermal imaging device, infrared scope, or other nightvision sight, or from another type of video or image input device. Innight mode, the image of the display is formed at RFP for viewing viaeyepiece 855. A relay lens unit 880 (erector lenses) is provided inthird optical path segment 860 between display unit 870 and secondmirror 810. In some embodiments, telescopic day/night sight 800 beadditionally utilized with a reflex sight or other non-magnifying sight(not illustrated).

It will be obvious to those having skill in the art that many changesmay be made to the details of the above-described embodiments withoutdeparting from the underlying principles of the invention. For example,while the foregoing description of the aiming system 10 is presented inthe environment of a tactical rifle, it should be understood that aimingsystems and other aspects of the devices described herein may be used inconjunction with other projectile weapons, such as hunting rifles,handguns (pistols), shotguns, archery bows, crossbows, and grenadelaunchers, for example, and for other sighting needs unrelated toprojectile weapons, such as observation, surveying, and the like. Thescope of the present invention should, therefore, be determined only bythe following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A projectile weapon aiming systemcomprising: a telescopic sight including a housing having a mountingsurface that facilitates mounting the telescopic sight on a projectileweapon in alignment with a line of initial trajectory of the projectileweapon, the housing supporting an optical system of the telescopic sightand positioning the optical system relative to the mounting surface, theoptical system forming at a focal plane an image of a field of view ofthe telescopic sight, the optical system including: an objectivehorizontally offset relative to a vertical plane containing the line ofinitial trajectory when the telescopic sight is mounted to theprojectile weapon, the objective having an optical axis; a lightredirection device that receives light from the objective and directsimage-carrying light rearwardly along an optical path segment spacedapart from the optical axis of the objective and angled upwardly awayfrom the line of initial trajectory; and an eyepiece positioned alongthe optical path segment rearward of the focal plane and defining an eyepoint spaced apart rearwardly from the eyepiece at which the image ofthe field of view is visible through the eyepiece, wherein, when thetelescopic sight is mounted to the projectile weapon via the mountingsurface, the eye point is located at a place on the vertical plane suchthat a line parallel to the line of initial trajectory and intersectingthe eye point does not intersect the telescopic sight.
 2. The aimingsystem of claim 1, wherein the optical system of the telescopic sightfurther includes an aiming reticle located at the focal plane.
 3. Theaiming system of claim 1, wherein the eye point is located above ahorizontal plane tangent to an uppermost edge of the eyepiece that facesaway from the line of initial trajectory when the telescopic sight ismounted to the projectile weapon, wherein the horizontal plane isparallel to the optical axis of the objective.
 4. The aiming system ofclaim 3, further comprising a non-magnifying sight having a viewingwindow positioned predominantly above the horizontal plane when both thenon-magnifying sight and the telescopic sight are mounted to theprojectile weapon, such that both the telescopic sight and thenon-magnifying sight can be used to aim the projectile weapon withessentially no movement of the viewer's head.
 5. The aiming system ofclaim 4, wherein the non-magnifying sight and the telescopic sight areindependently mountable in tandem on a common mounting rail of theprojectile weapon and separately removable from the common mountingrail.
 6. The aiming system of claim 4, wherein the non-magnifying sightis a reflex sight and the viewing window is a partial reflector.
 7. Theaiming system of claim 4, wherein the non-magnifying sight is aholographic weapon sight.
 8. The aiming system of claim 3, furthercomprising a second sight positioned predominantly above the horizontalplane when both the second sight and the telescopic sight are mounted tothe projectile weapon, such that both the telescopic sight and thesecond sight can be used to aim the projectile weapon with essentiallyno movement of the viewer's head.
 9. The aiming system of claim 1,wherein: the optical system defines an optical path extending from theobjective to the eyepiece; and the light redirection device includesspaced-apart first and second reflective surfaces arranged to fold theoptical path.
 10. The aiming system of claim 9, wherein: the firstreflective surface receives light from the objective and reflects itforwardly along a first path fold segment; and the second reflectivesurface receives the light reflected by the first reflective surface andreflects such light rearward along the optical path segment.
 11. Theaiming system of claim 10, wherein the first and second reflectivesurfaces comprise respective first and second mirrors.
 12. The aimingsystem of claim 10, wherein the first and second reflective surfacescomprise respective first and second surfaces of a prism system.
 13. .The aiming system of claim 10, wherein the second reflective surface ispivotable from a first position receiving light reflected by the firstreflective surface and reflecting such light along the optical pathsegment, and a second position at which the second reflective surface:(i) receives image-display light from an electronic display device alonga third optical path segment angularly offset from the first path foldsegment and the optical path segment, and (ii) reflects theimage-display light along the optical path segment.
 14. The aimingsystem of claim 1, wherein the light redirection device includes: animage sensor; and an electronic image display device spaced apart fromthe image sensor.
 15. The aiming system of claim 1, wherein: the imageformed at the focal plane is a first image of the field of view formedby the objective at a front focal plane; and the optical system furtherincludes: a relay lens system interposed in an optical path between thefront focal plane and the eyepiece, the relay lens system erecting thefirst image and focusing an erect image thereof at a rear focal plane,and the relay lens system optionally including at least one lens elementselectively movable along the optical path to vary an opticalmagnification of the telescopic sight, and an aiming reticle located ateither the front focal plane or the rear focal plane.
 16. The aimingsystem of claims 1, wherein the mounting surface includes a clamp thatis sized and shaped to secure the telescopic sight to a Picatinny rail,the clamp including a fixed portion integrally formed in the housing anda: movable jaw portion.
 17. The aiming system of claims 1, wherein anouter surface of the housing includes an auxiliary sight mountingplatform located forward of the eyepiece, the auxiliary sight mountingplatform being horizontal and intersecting the vertical plane when thetelescopic sight is mounted to the projectile weapon.
 18. The aimingsystem of claim 17, further comprising: a miniature reflex sight mountedto the auxiliary sight mounting platform, and the miniature reflex sighthas a viewing window; and when the telescopic sight is mounted to amounting rail of the projectile weapon, a centroid of the viewing windowis optionally located between 1.3 and 1.75 inches above a top surface ofthe mounting rail.
 19. The aiming system of claim 2, wherein the aimingreticle includes: a primary aiming mark located on a vertical aimingaxis; and multiple holdover aiming marks spaced apart below the primaryaiming mark, the holdover aiming marks laterally offset to one side ofthe vertical aiming axis to compensate for the horizontal offset of theobjective.
 20. The aiming system of claim 2, wherein: the objective andthe aiming reticle define a line of sight of the optical system; theobjective includes an objective lens that is slidably supported on thehousing for movement transversely of an optical axis of the objectivelens relative to other elements of the optical system; and thetelescopic sight further comprises an adjustment mechanism supported onthe housing and operable to drive the objective lens transversely of itsoptical axis to thereby adjust the line of sight of the telescopicsight.
 21. A projectile weapon aiming system comprising: a telescopicsight including a housing having a mounting surface that facilitatesmounting the telescopic sight on a projectile weapon in alignment with aline of initial trajectory of the projectile weapon, the housingsupporting an optical system of the telescopic sight and positioning theoptical system relative to the mounting surface, the optical systemforming at a focal plane an image of a field of view of the telescopicsight, the optical system including: an objective having an opticalaxis; a light redirection device that receives light from the objectiveand directs image-carrying light rearwardly along an optical pathsegment angled upwardly away from the line of initial trajectory; aneyepiece positioned rearward of the focal plane and defining an eyepoint spaced apart rearwardly from the eyepiece at which the image ofthe field of view is visible through the eyepiece, wherein the eye pointis located above a horizontal plane tangent to an uppermost edge of theeyepiece that faces away from the line of initial trajectory when thetelescopic sight is mounted to the projectile weapon via the mountingsurface, wherein the horizontal plane is parallel to the optical axis ofthe objective, and wherein a line parallel to the line of initialtrajectory and intersecting the eye point does not intersect thetelescopic sight when the telescopic sight is mounted to the projectileweapon; and a second sight positioned at least partially above thehorizontal plane when both the telescopic sight and the second sight aremounted to the projectile weapon, such that both the telescopic sightand the second sight can be used to aim the projectile weapon withessentially no movement of the viewer's head.
 22. The projectile weaponaiming system of claim 21, wherein the light redirection device includesa prism.
 23. The projectile weapon aiming system of claim 21, whereinthe second sight is a non-magnifying sight, the non-magnifying sighthaving a viewing window positioned predominantly above the horizontalplane when both the non-magnifying sight and the telescopic sight aremounted to the projectile weapon.